This invention relates to Screw Threaded Locking Bolt assemblies, and in particular to such assemblies for holding or securing items of equipment in aircraft.
According to the invention there is provided a locking bolt assembly comprising:
bush means for axially supporting a threaded bolt of said assembly, said bush means being adapted to be fixed in use with respect to a structure to which said bolt is to be engaged;
socket means carried on said bush means and being internally dimensioned for rotational locking engagement of a head of said threaded bolt and comprising means for preventing rotation of said socket means on the bush but permitting limited longitudinal movement thereon, said head of said threaded bolt being correspondingly dimensioned for rotational locking engagement within said socket; and,
resilient means for urging said head and said socket means into said rotational locking engagement,
so that in use said socket means may be moved longitudinally with respect to said bush means against the action of said resilient means from a position in which said head and said socket means are radically locked, to a position in which said head is freed for rotation and engagement with a co-operating nut of said assembly fixedly mounted on said structure.
We have found our invention particularly useful in situations where the nut portion of a nut and bolt assembly for equipment installation is inaccessibly built into an aircraft structure and such that the nut per se cannot have any self-locking element in it due to the high frequency of equipment removal for maintenance purposes.